BOSTON (Ticker) -- Paul Pierce overcame strep throat to score 23
of his 30 points in the second half and highlighted a pivotal
fourth-quarter run as the Boston Celtics posted a 114-103
victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pierce had seven points in a 9-1 run to start the final quarter
as the Celtics took an 85-84 lead with 9 1/2 minutes remaining.
He started the surge with a thunderous dunk along the baseline
and capped it with a 3-pointer.

"It seemed like we really needed halftime to make our
adjustments," Pierce said. "But once we did, we started playing
very good up-tempo basketball in the second half."

Rookie Adrian Griffin added season-highs of 23 points and 11
rebounds and former Cavalier Vitaly Potapenko had a big fourth
quarter for the Celtics, who outscored Cleveland 21-10 over the
final 4:53 of the contest.

"This was one of my favorite wins as a Celtics coach because we
really did not play well. We did not play good basketball
against a very difficult style of play," Boston coach Rick
Pitino said.

"At halftime, we just told the players, we're playing against a
style that is unusual. If you take a bad shot, they will run
out two people and we wouldn't get back. In the second half, we
played with great tenacity and adjusted for our mistakes."

Acquired from Cleveland last season, Potapenko scored 10 of his
12 points in the fourth and had a key steal in the final minute.
Griffin had nine of his points over the final 12 minutes.

Shawn Kemp scored 27 points for Cleveland, which lost for just
the second time in its last 30 games when it held a lead
entering the fourth quarter.

"Regardless of what the coach says about our defense, it was the
pressure, rebounding and Paul Pierce that killed us," Kemp said.

Kenny Anderson put the Celtics in front for good, 95-93, when he
drained a 20-footer with 4:53 left. Anderson had a solid game
directing the offense, scoring 21 points, handing out four
assists and not turning the ball over in 35 minutes.

Following Anderson's basket, Bob Sura hit 1-of-2 free throws for
the Cavs before Antoine Walker and Potapenko came through with
consecutive baskets to push the lead to five.

Cleveland closed to 105-102 on Cedric Henderson's 3-pointer with
1:50 to play.

Still down by three with under a minute left, Potapenko stole a
pass from Brevin Knight. Griffin, who went undrafted but has
proven to be a key contributor for Boston, followed with a
3-pointer with 36 seconds to go that sealed the win.

Led by Griffin and Pierce, who also grabbed 11 rebounds, the
Celtics held a 47-38 rebounding edge.

Sura finished with 14 points and rookie Andre Miller added 13
for the Cavs, who shot 47.5 percent (38-of-80) from the field.
The Celtics did a good portion of their damage at the foul line,
going 38-of-45.

The Cavs looked like they were going to blow the Celtics off the
floor, opening the contest with a 21-6 surge. Sura keyed that
opening spurt with seven points.

Kemp, who finished 9-of-15 from the floor, tallied 16 of his
points in the opening half as the Cavs built a 10-point lead.
But the Celtics reduced the deficit to seven entering the final
quarter as Pierce scored 14 points in the third.

"Our problem in the second half was that we relaxed," Cleveland
coach Randy Wittman said. "Our defensive effort went down. We
took the easy way out. In the first half, we had them really
struggling. But in the second half, we allowed too many easy
baskets and they got going."